A scientific and legal exploration into animal rights today considers the cognitive abilities of animals along the evolutionary spectrum, identifies where the line for rights is currently drawn and wh
Edward Teller is perhaps best known for his belief in freedom through strong defense. But this extraordinary memoir at last reveals the man behind the headlines--passionate and humorous, devoted and l
To many people, the main question about extraterrestrial life is whether it exists. But to the scientific community, that question has already been answered: it does, and within our solar system. The
When Charles Darwin landed on the Galapagos Islands in 1835, he was the first to recognize that their isolation and desolation were advantages for a naturalist: Here the workings of nature are laid b
When historians of the future come to examine western civilization in the twentieth century, one area of intellectual accomplishment will stand out above all others: more than any other era before it,
A biopsychologist explores the origins of human feelings, showing how they have been shaped by millions of years of evolution, and how they function as the basis of learning and reasoning. Reprint.
Speigel (psychiatry and behavioral sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine) was the first to demonstrate that group support for cancer patients results in significantly enhanced survival time
An exploration of the question "Are we alone out there?" applies the cutting-edge scientific breakthroughs of Earthly biology to a speculation on the appearance and habits of extraterrestrial beings
From the first serious sex study ever undertaken (in France in 1830 with a group of prostitutes) to the latterday work of Masters and Johnson, this book traces the history of more than a century of se
Explains the goal of psychotherapy, shows how the brain can develop an unhealthy view of the self, and describes the principles of psychotherapy in restoring mental health
Inspired by Albert Einstein's theory of relativity and Bertrand Russell and David Hilbert's pursuit of the fundamental rules of mathematics, some of the most brilliant minds of the generation came tog
For the past 500 years, gamblers-led by mathematicians and scientists-have been trying to figure out how to pull the rug out from under Lady Luck. In The Perfect Bet, mathematician and award-winning w
From economic meltdowns to how people cooperate, there is much about the human world that eludes our understanding. John Miller, a leading expert in the computational study of complex adaptive systems
Cats have been popular household pets for thousands of years, and their numbers only continue to rise. Today there are three cats for every dog on the planet, and yet cats remain more mysterious, eve
"Dogs have been mankind's faithful companions for tens of thousands of years, yet today they are regularly treated as either pack-following wolves or furry humans. The truth is, dogs are neither--and
A cocktail party. A terrorist cell. Ancient bacteria. An international conglomerate. All are networks, and all are a part of a surprising scientific revolution. In Linked, Albert-Laszlo Barabasi, the
How should we live? According to philosopher and biologist Massimo Pigliucci, the greatest guidance to this essential question lies in combining the wisdom of 24 centuries of philosophy with the lates
Consciousness is our gateway to experience: it enables us to recognize Van Gogh’s starry skies, be enraptured by Beethoven’s Fifth, and stand in awe of a snowcapped mountain. Yet consciousness is subj
Why do certain civilizations, societies, and ecosystems collapse? How does the domino effect relate to the credit crunch? When can mathematics help explain marriage? And how on earth do toads predict
Everyone has heard of the five stages of grief, ending in an unhappy acceptance in the face of something we’re too weak to stand up to. In The Other Side of Sadness, psychologist and emotions e
Philosopher and scientist Thomas Metzinger argues that neuroscience’s picture of the self” as an emergent phenomenon of our biology and the attendant fact that the self”
Schizophrenics in the United States currently fare worse than patients in the world's poorest countries. In Mad in America, medical journalist Robert Whitaker argues that modern treatments for the sev
We tend to understand grief as a predictable five-stage process of denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. But in The Other Side of Sadness, George Bonanno shows that our conventional
Richard P. Feynman’s Lectures on Physics has been known worldwide as a classic resource for students and professionals. Drawn from the source material from which the Lectures on Physics were transcrib
Reissued with a new preface: the Pulitzer Prize-winning book that is “quite simply the best book ever written on the Scopes Trial and its place in American history and myth.”
Every time we order a meal through Seamless or look up an address on Google Maps, we create data. Yet, we the people do not benefit from this wealth of information. Only large corporations such as Goo
Under the aegis of machine learning in our data-driven machine age, computers are programming themselves and learning aboutand solvingan extraordinary range of problems, from the mundane to the most d
First, businesses discovered quality as a key competitive edge; next came service. Now, Donald A. Norman, former Director of the Institute for Cognitive Science at the University of California, revea
In The True Path, Duke psychiatrist Roy J. Mathew draws on his own extensive knowledge of neuroscience as he looks at the centuries-old Indian idea that spirituality is a state of mind-a higher form o
